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Monday, 17 November 2014

Review:Bigger Things by Ev Bishop

Best friends since
childhood, Jen, Chelsea and Kyra know everything about each other. Or
think they do. Jen should be celebrating her whopping 121-pound weight
loss. Instead she feels like she's betrayed fat girls everywhere. Will
anyone love her for who she is inside, fat or thin? More importantly,
will she? Chelsea appears to have it all-a husband, a family, a
beautiful home-but plaguing memories threaten to destroy everything. In
her desperation to maintain control, will she succumb to a compulsion
that costs her life? Kyra is sick of the superficial persona she's worn
for so long. It's exhausting to pretend to be an airhead while running a
successful business. But if she sheds her life-of-the-party facade,
will she ever find the boyfriend she thinks she needs? When a nervous
breakdown leaves one of them fighting to survive, all their secrets are
laid bare. To stay friends, they need to battle personal dragons,
confront the past, and embrace change. But can they break free from the
roles they've played so long? Or must they leave one another behind in
order to move forward?

Paperback, 344 pages

Published
July 22nd 2014
by Winding Path Books

Terri Thoughts
I won a copy of this book in a giveaway on Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

This was a story of three best friends who are trying to find their way in the world but have serious issues from their past that they must overcome. In all cases their dealing mechanisms are linked to food and body image.

Aside from the events that take place with each of these three characters the story really tackles the stigma of body image for woman and the pressures that are out there to conform to a particular body type. I liked that this story tackled this topic as woman all over the world are dealing with unrealistic expectations of what they should look like and act like.

All three girls have some serious issues be it weight, emotional scars from abuse or absentee parents. In all three cases the girls deal with these issues in non-healthy ways before learning to face them dead on. The bond of friendship was another strong theme throughout. Three girls who have been best friends since childhood who are more like sisters (fighting and all). I enjoyed seeing how they were there for each other and for the most part were not enablers for each others issues.

What I enjoyed most about the story was the articles to Fat Girl that were mixed in throughout the story. I loved the honestly and harsh criticism offered to those who were ignorant to weight issues. These articles tackled everything that is wrong with society and gave the biting comebacks that many people deserve for their actions. This was the highlight for me and I think would be helpful to all woman to read. We all have body image issues however this addresses some of it.

A
long time columnist with The Terrace Standard, my other non-fiction
work appears in a variety of regional and international publications.
Bigger Things, my first novel under my own name, has just come out under
the imprint Winding Path Books, and I have a growing list of published
short fiction – Yay! I also write and publish under the pen name Toni
Sheridan.

When I’m not reading or writing, I’m visiting with my
husband, two kids and pets, or I’m outside somewhere, usually at the
lake or in some garden somewhere. . . .